The fall air was calming. Calm was what Ethan needed, especially that he was going to have his first day of night school to get his GED. After dinner, Lex, Hannah, and Bailey piled into the car with Ethan. "You ready?" Lex asked Ethan, taking his hand as she turned out of the residential street.

"I guess. I just hope it won't suck and people won't judge me. I have a feeling I'll definitely be the youngest and everyone will be confused as to why I'm there when I'm high school aged," he said.

"Hey, don't let their opinions bother you. Today is just a placement test, and you'll hopefully not have too much to learn. You've been in school longer than I have," Lex said. She finally pulled up to Hatchetfield High School. The lights were on outside and inside. Ethan took a deep breath and gripped his backpack. "Good luck. Text or call me when you need to be picked up."

"Thanks," Ethan said, giving Lex a quick kiss before slipping out of the car. She watched as he entered the building safely.

"Lexi?" Hannah asked Lex as they started on the way home.

"What's up?" Lex replied, turning left.

"Is Ethan okay? Did he get in trouble at work for not having graduated high school?" Hannah asked. Lex looked back briefly.

"He's okay and he didn't get in trouble. Ms. Johnson just asked him if he wanted to get a GED, which is similar to a high school diploma. She mentioned that it would help him a lot in the future and he decided to do it," Lex explained. That's when they got home. Lex and Hannah entered. With a quick glance at the clock, Lex realized there was an hour and a half before Hannah's bedtime. "Banana, do you want to work on a bit of Bailey's therapy training?"

Hannah grinned. "Of course."

Ethan nervously waited at the front-row desk he chose. There weren't that many people taking the class. According to the teacher, there were only twenty students. Mostly everyone was here except for five. When they finally arrived after what appeared to be an hour, the teacher spoke.

"Hi, everyone. I'm Grant Hughes and I'll be your night school teacher. Since we're all going to be together for a while, let's all get up and introduce ourselves. Our age, why you're here, and what job you have. Let's being with Amanda Brooks," the teacher said.

"Hi, everyone. I'm Amanda and I'm 27. I currently work at a cell phone shop and in order to be promoted I need a GED."

A few introductions went by. Ethan tried to remember the names, but he couldn't. "Ethan Green?" Grant asked. Ethan stood up nervously.

"Um, hi. I'm Ethan and I'm 19. Currently, I work as a TA and math tutor. I'm here because the teacher I TA asked if I'd want to get my GED and I agreed to it," Ethan said.

"This is just out of curiosity, but what's the highest math level you know?" Grant asked.

"Stats and multivariable calculus," Ethan responded. He heard muttering around the room before hurriedly sitting down.

After half an hour, the teacher handed out the placement tests. Ethan finished at around the same time as everyone else. Eager to leave, his hopes were soon shattered by the teacher asking him to stay. The class filtered out and finally it was just Ethan and Grant.

"So, why are you here taking night school when you could just enroll in high school at your age?" Grant asked.

"I work full-time. I live with my girlfriend and her sister. Their mom's in rehab and their dad left, so my girlfriend's also working full-time. We're both dropouts and living paycheck to paycheck. I can't afford to go back to school," Ethan said.

"Well, I was looking at your test briefly and based on earlier, you don't need anymore math knowledge. Unless you'd like to retake calculus, because that's the highest level we offer," the professor asked.

"No, thank you," Ethan responded.

"Well, we do have another night school teacher that I think I'll place with you. She can get you through history, english, and science. That's all you have left," Grant said. Ethan gave a curt nod.

"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"See you then!"

Ethan walked out the building where he found Lex waiting for him, a big smile on her face. "Hey," she said as he got into the car.

"Hey," Ethan responded, giving her a quick kiss.

"How was school?" Lex asked. Ethan took a stealthy look at the backseat, noticing that Hannah was at home with Bailey.

"We had to do introductions. But the teacher said that there's another night school teacher that might take me. The teacher didn't want me to sit through calculus again," Ethan said. Lex smiled, a streetlight lighting up her features.

Night school became regular as the month progressed. Ethan was moved to the other teacher, a very kind woman named Olivia Peterson. She was leading him through high school course material, excluding math. When it was October 30th, she made him stop before leaving.

"Tomorrow, are you taking anyone trick-or-treating for the holiday?" She asked.

"Yeah," Ethan responded.

"Okay. I'm going to do the same for my son. Let's not meet tomorrow and instead regroup November 1st. We're through all the literature requirements and we're almost done with United States History. The one thing we're really going to be focusing on is finishing the last bit of Biology and getting through physics with calculus," Olivia said. Ethan nodded. Due to it being just him, he and Olivia were crushing the material.

"Happy Halloween," Ethan said, waving goodbye and driving home. Lex had opted to stay home in order to budget, so he had the car. He couldn't wait to tell Lex about how close he was to getting a GED. However, when he got home, he found another car in the driveway. Curious, Ethan texted Lex. She didn't respond after five minutes, which Ethan decided was his cue to go inside. When he unlocked the door, a strange sight awaited him. Evelyn Foster was sitting across from Lex, speaking in a low voice. Lex looked to the side and her stress melted away.

"Mom, I know you've met him, but this is Ethan. My...boyfriend," Lex said, standing up and hugging Ethan. She told him something quietly while in the hug. "She's allowed to be home for being over 300 days sober. It's for tonight briefly and she'll be allowed the week of Thanksgiving. We're playing it by ear."

Ethan smiled and Lex returned it. Clearing his throat, Ethan strode over to Evelyn. "Hello," he said.

"Hi. I heard you're in night school and being taught by a very kind woman," Evelyn said. The tension in the phrase was palpable. Lex cut between them to ease it.

"How was school, Ethan?" She asked. He smiled.

"We're almost done with history. We just have to wrap up bio and do physics. After that, we'll take the exam. Also, tomorrow I don't have class so I can take out Hannah. I can also help with figuring out the candy for Tom and Becky's," Ethan said. Lex smiled.

"Thank you. Go get to bed," she said. With a mock salute, Ethan headed upstairs out of view.

"So, it's romantic and serious," Evelyn said. Lex nodded. "Well, I'm proud of both of you. I should get going, but I'll see you in three weeks. Please keep in touch. Send me a picture of Hannah's costume."

"You got it," Lex smiled, walking her mother out.

The next day was Halloween. Ethan was eager to see all the costumes his class was wearing. Today, they were going to learn the history of the holiday. There were a few more fun things planned, but Ethan wasn't told any of them. He'd just have to wait.

At the pet store, Lex had gotten Bailey into a Wonder Woman costume. Bailey seemed to be fine with it. At the store, Lex was given a position helping people choose costumes for their dogs based on size.

"Hey," a familiar voice said. Lex looked up and saw Paul, holding a carrier that contained Diane.

"Paul? What are you going here?" She asked, hugging him.

"Well, we have the CCRP Halloween party later, so we got let go early to go get ready. I'm not going to the party, so I was wondering if you could help me choose a costume for Diane. Carole is with Emma. They're both the same size, so we wanted to get a couples costume?" Paul said.

"Let's start by the small section. We have lots of options, like ketchup and mustard, Batman and Superman, puzzle pieces, and more," Lex said, guiding Paul to the small section. The tester outfit fit Diane, so Paul took his time choosing a pair. He eventually settled on Ewok and Chewbacca costumes. He answered Lex's look.

"So, we're going as Leia and Han. So what?" Paul asked. Lex laughed.

"Catch you tonight?" She asked. Paul nodded.

When Lex got home from work, Hannah was in costume and Ethan had gotten the candy and his costume on. Hannah was dressed as Wednesday Addams and Ethan as Gomez Addams. Lex had yet to go upstairs and become Morticia Adams. Bailey was also going to participate as Cousin Itt. When Lex finally came downstairs, Hannah and Ethan were getting a little impatient.

"Okay, let's get going," Lex said, adjusting her wig. Before she could get going, Ethan was roping them into a Halloween selfie.

Once they all got into the car, their conversation quickly turned into what costumes everyone would have. "Do you think Tom, Becky, and Tim are going to match?" Ethan asked.

"I don't think so. Tim said he was going as Buzz and I don't think you can do a trio with that. What else, Woody and Bo Peep?" Hannah replied, "Wait, that is a trio. A really good one."

"Maybe Tim goes as Buzz, but Tom and Becky do something else, like Rose and Jack from Titanic," Lex suggested.

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Ethan said as Lex parked and they all left the car, knocking on the door. Becky answered the door, dressed as Jessie from Toy Story.

"Hi! Come in, come in!" Becky exclaimed, leading them inside. When they finally got inside, they discovered Tom as Woody and Tim as Buzz Lightyear.

"I like that you guys did The Addams Family. So creative!" Becky said.

"You guys doing Toy Story is spot-on," Lex said as Ethan took the candy to Tom. Tim embraced Hannah.

"Are you ready?" He asked her. She nodded. "Emma and Paul said they'd be here in five minutes. Once they come, we can go."

As if on cue, Paul and Emma walked in. "Matching costumes all around!" Tom whooped. Carole and Diane were adorable in their costumes. Emma and Paul both looked amazing.

Once the party was all set up, Ethan, Paul, and Tom took Hannah and Tim trick-or-treating. Lex, Emma, Becky, and the dogs stayed home to hand out candy. "So how many Wigglys do you think we'll see?" Lex asked, "That's the scariest thing someone could be."

"True. I think maybe a few people with a bad sense of humor. I mean, people died because of it. Some kids might do it, not knowing why it's so scary," Emma responded. Becky nodded in agreement.

"I do think some people will dress as Black Friday, though. Who knows what we'll see? I don't know what's cool with the kids anymore," Becky said.

"I think Stranger Things is a really big thing," Lex said. Emma nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, the trick-or-treating group was having fun. Hannah and Ethan's costumes were huge hits as were Tom and Tim's. People liked Paul's, but it was a little strange that he didn't have anyone else matching with him.

WC: 2002

Hi, everyone! I bet after finishing this, you may wonder if I had watched the Addams Family reading recently when writing this. Yes, I did 100%. My YouTube rewatching has been that and ANI. Anyways, the beginning of the school year is approaching and I'm a little nervous.

Another point that isn't that serious, please give a little follow to my Instagram fan account which launched yesterday! It's MorallyMaligned, so it'd be nice if you took a little peek. I hope you all have an amazing week!

--Luna :D